First Steps Beneath Aldrassil's Boughs

The Road

I arrived in Shadowglen in the late afternoon, when the light comes down through the leaves like something poured. I stood there a good while taking in the view, because the glen deserved it. The moon was not yet up, but I nodded in its direction anyway, in case it was watching.

From there my feet carried me back and forth between the glen and the great tree Aldrassil, which I discovered properly today. It is very large. I said "hello" to it. I do not think it minded.

Battles

Fourteen beasts fell to me today, and I took no joy in the number, only a solemn sort of duty. Seven young nightsabers, five young thistle boars, one full-grown thistle boar, and a single grellkin. I whispered a word of thanks over each, and I only hope Elune counted the whispers as well as the beasts.

The grellkin I looked at longest. Tarindrella's warning about the wicked Fel Moss was still fresh in my mind, and it made the forest feel a little less friendly for a moment.

Deeds

Conservator Ilthalaine greeted me with "Ah, the beauty of Shadowglen never ceases to delight my senses!" and I agreed so loudly that I think I startled him. He asked me to thin the young nightsabers and thistle boars, because the spring rains were heavy and the forest can only feed so many mouths. When I came back, he said I had "performed my duties well." I have decided to treasure this. He then asked for more of the same, this time against mangy nightsabers and thistle boars, and I have not yet done it.

Melithar Staghelm sent me to find the dryad Tarindrella, who had returned to Shadowglen after years away. Word of it had come to him "through the whisperings of the forest spirits." I found her, and she told me I still had much to learn, which was fair. She then asked me to gather eight Fel Moss from the grells and grellkin, and I have not done that yet either.

She also sent me to search the abandoned Gnarlpine camps for totems, and I brought them back to her. Their engravings told a sad tale. The Gnarlpine dreamed of being wiped out by a great shadow, and that fear turned to rage, and the rage turned on their old elven friends. She said it was worse than she had thought. I stood quietly for a moment, because it is a terrible thing to feel your own mind slip away.

Ilthalaine also gave me a Verdant Sigil from the druid trainer Mardant, and I read it and carried it up to him in Aldrassil. Last, Dirania Silvershine asked me to look for her friend Iverron. He is several hours late for their daily visit, and she is worried. He was last seen near the cave to the north, where there are spiders "everywhere." I said I would keep an eye out. I did not mention that I am very bad at keeping an eye on things.

Spoils & Craft

Tarindrella, pleased that I had found her, offered me one of her books to further my education. She said my kind enjoys books, and she is right. I did not find any coin or treasure, though I did look under a few ferns, just in case.

Growth

Today I learned the arts of Tanning and Skinning, so that a slain beast may give back something useful. Terunne Bearshaper asked if I cared to learn to gather leather from slain beasts, and I did. I said "yes" with perhaps too much enthusiasm, and she was very patient.

Somewhere between the boars and the nightsabers I felt a new strength settle into me, like a second heartbeat. My defense and my skill with the staff both sharpened a little.

Mardant Strongoak welcomed me as "my brother" and said he would be my mentor and guide. He spoke of the day the Emerald Dream will call me, when I will sleep for many years and walk among the purest forms. I tried to look wise, but I was mostly thinking about how nice it would be to sleep. He taught me the Mark of the Wild, and when I cast it, the air around me smelled of rain on old bark.